Standards & Legislation

China revises key food contact material standard

CHINA – The Chinese government is currently consulting industry on a draft amendment to its food contact material standard GB 9685.

Issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), the draft amendment attempts to make the standard more compatible with international practices, for example by changing the term “food containers and packaging materials” – which was previously used by China – to “food contact materials and their products”.

Hence, the standard’s name has also been changed to “GB 9685-XXXX National Food Safety Standard: Standard for Uses of Additives in Food Contact Materials and their Products”.

The draft standard amendment defines "food contact materials and articles" to include various materials and articles, including food packaging…

The full report on China’s revised food contact material standard GB 9685 is available in the May 2015 issue of Packaging Business Insight Asia.